by Andria Large
“Pushing me,” Christian replied. “I don’t think I would have ever told any of them if you hadn’t said what you said.”
Shea smiled softly. “You can thank me later if you’d like.”
“Oh, I plan on it,” Christian rasped.
Shea had to stifle a shudder at the promise in Christian’s tone.
“One, four, three,” Christian murmured.
Shea cocked his head. “Huh?”
“It’s the number of letters in the words I want to say, but too many people could read my lips if I actually say it,” Christian muttered, rolling his eyes.
“Oooh,” Shea said, understanding. Then he laughed and gave Christian a playful shove. “You’re so corny.”
Christian snorted. “Why do you think I rolled my eyes?”
“One, four, three, three,” Shea whispered with a stupid grin on his face.
Christian chuckled.
Shea really wanted to kiss him, badly, but he would refrain until all of Christian’s family knew. He was glad Christian told Quinn. He was surprised, though, at how fast it happened. He expected Christian to procrastinate and wait until the very last day of Shea’s threat to tell his family. This was great, though, went even better than Shea had hoped. Shea was so afraid that Christian was going to tell him to go fuck himself, that he wasn’t going to tell him family, but his ultimatum didn’t backfire on him. Thank fucking god!
That night, when they were getting ready to leave, Quinn grabbed Shea and pulled him into a hug. Shea “Oofed” and hugged Quinn back, giving him a couple of pats on the back. It was really weird, this new Quinn that hugs.
“Treat my brother right or I will beat the shit out of you,” Quinn whispered in his ear.
Shea smiled. It was a good sign if Quinn was threatening him with bodily harm if he didn’t treat Christian right. “I will, I promise,” Shea replied.
Quinn let him go and gave him a fond, brotherly smack on the face before smiling and winking at Shea. Shea rolled his eyes and followed Christian out the door. Shea got into the driver’s side and sighed.
“That party went much better than expected,” he said.
“Mmm hmm.”
Shea looked over to see Christian with his head back and his eyes closed. Yeah, Shea was beat, too. Being out in the sun and playing in the pool with the kids all day was exhausting. Shea had no idea how Henry and Sebastian kept up with those maniacs they call children. Just one day with the four of them was enough. The kids were all over him, constantly calling, “Shea, Shea, Shea,” that he was ready to change his name by the time they all crashed in the living room on the floor and couches. By this time next year, there were going to be five kids in all, once Quinn and Margot have their baby, and who know who else is going to get pregnant again by that time. Shea figured it was kind of a good thing that Christian and he couldn’t have babies, because with the amount of sex they had, he couldn’t even begin to imagine all of the kids they would pop out.
~Chapter 8~
Shea jumped when his cell phone started to vibrate his ass. Luckily, he wasn’t in the process of using a saw or something, because that could have gone very wrong. He did, however, have a bunch of screws in his mouth since he was in the middle of putting up drywall. Shea dug his phone out of his pocket with one hand and looked at the screen. Christian? Why was Christian calling him? He knew Shea was working late today. Shea hit the answer button and put the phone to his ear.
“Yeah, Chris?” he said as best he could around the screws.
“I’m sorry for interrupting whatever you’re doing but I just listened to the messages on the house phone and someone from social services called, saying that they needed to speak with you right away, that it was really important,” Christian said.
“Social services?” Shea asked, confused.
“Yeah, I have no idea what it could possibly be about, but the woman on the message sounded serious and almost frantic,” Christian said.
“Hmm,” Shea murmured.
“I’ve got her name and number if you want to call her back.”
Shea spit the screws into his hand then put them in a pocket of his tool belt so that he could grab the pencil that was tucked behind his ear. “Okay, shoot.”
Christian relayed the woman’s name and number. Shea just wrote it on the drywall since it would be painted over anyway. After Shea and Christian said goodbye, Shea called up the woman named Jackie Young at social services.
“Jackie Young, speaking,” a female voice answered on the phone.
“Hi, this is Shea Dempsey, you left me a message?”
“Oh, Mr. Dempsey, thank you for calling me back so quickly!”
“Sure, no problem. What can I do for you?” Shea asked.
“Mr. Dempsey, did you know a Ms. Tara Lafferty?” Jackie said grimly.
Shea’s stomach filled with dread at her tone. “Yes, I know Tara, is everything okay?”
“I’m sorry, no. Ms. Lafferty got into a horrendous car accident early yesterday morning and passed away,” Jackie informed him softly.
“Jesus!” Shea breathed, scrubbing a hand over his dark hair.
“That was not exactly the reason I was calling you, though. The reason I called was because Ms. Lafferty was eight months pregnant, and although she died, the baby survived and is in the NICU at Children’s Hospital,” Jackie said.
“Tara was pregnant?” Shea squawked.
“I see that you had no idea. You were not dating?”
“No, I haven’t seen her in about six months…oh my god…” Shea gasped. The last time he saw her he had noticed that her boobs looked bigger, that was probably why. Sonofabitch!
“She listed you as the father of the baby in a Will she had drawn up about a month ago. She has no other living relatives,” Jackie said.
“What are you saying?” Shea asked hoarsely even though he had a pretty good idea.
“What I am saying, Mr. Dempsey, is that you are the child’s only living blood relative. If you do not want to take custody of the child, and would rather sign away your parental rights, then she will be placed in the foster care system,” Jackie said softly.
“She?” Shea croaked.
“Yes, she. The baby is a girl.”
“How…wha…I mean, is she really mine?”
“The only way to know for sure would be to take a paternity test, which will take about a week to get the results. In the meantime, the baby is healthy and cleared to be released from the hospital. I wanted to give you the option to take her home with you before I made other arrangements.”
Shea’s knees suddenly felt like jello and he swore all of the blood drained out of his brain. “Holy shit, are you for real, lady, or are you just fucking with me?” Shea rasped.
“I am completely serious, Mr. Dempsey. I will give you some time to think things over, but you must call me by tomorrow morning with your answer. The hospital will not continue to keep the baby there if she is healthy and can leave.”
“Okay.” Shea breathed and hung up the phone.
He needed air. He stumbled out of the house he was working in and down the front steps. A few guys asked him if he was okay but he just ignored them and went to his truck. He got in, started it up, and drove out of there; he’d deal with the consequences of leaving later. He needed to get home, he had to talk to Christian, and he just couldn’t do it over the phone. He needed Christian there to catch him when he passed the fuck out.
Shea made it home in record time. He walked in the front door and immediately called for Christian. Christian appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, his face a mixture of confusion and concern.
“Shea, what are you doing home? I thought you were working late?” Christian asked as he started toward him.
“I called that woman, Jackie, back,” Shea croaked.
Christian stopped in front of him. “And?”
“Tara died in a car accident yesterday morning,” Shea whispered.
Christian sighed. “Shit.
”
“That’s not all, though. She was eight months pregnant. The baby survived and is down at CHOP. Tara supposedly named me as the father in her Will.”
Christian sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening as he woodenly took a couple of steps back to drop down onto the stairs. “What?” He breathed, staring up at Shea.
Shea scrubbed his hair with both hands and started to pace. “Jackie said that if I don’t want the baby then she’s going to be put into foster care because Tara has no other living relatives.”
Christian shook his head. “No, no, you can’t let that baby be put into foster care, Shea, especially if she’s yours,” Christian rushed to say, shooting to his feet.
“Without a paternity test, I can’t know for sure that she’s mine,” Shea said.
“When do you need to decide?” Christian asked.
“Jackie said she’s needs an answer by tomorrow morning.”
“Jesus Christ.” Christian groaned and raked a hand through his hair.
“I don’t know what to do, Christian, we have nothing for a baby - no crib, no clothes, no bottles, diapers, car seat…fuck!” Shea cried, clasping his hands together on top of his head.
Oh god, what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t take care of a newborn! He had no idea what to do with a newborn! Toddlers, yeah okay, he could do toddlers, they could at least say some words and point to shit they wanted. Christian grabbed him and pulled him into his arms. Shea clung to him, tucking his face in Christian’s neck.
“I’m not ready for a baby, Chris, and how can I possibly take care of an infant? I work too much…” Shea said hoarsely, trailing off before he really started to break down.
“Shea, don’t forget, you are not alone. I’m here and I’m sure my family will be more than willing to help. You can’t let that baby go into foster care when she can be with a loving family like ours,” Christian murmured.
Shea hugged Christian tighter. He knew that he could count on Christian to be reasonable and understanding. Even though Shea was scared out of his mind, he didn’t want to let the baby, his or not, go into foster care. He was so relieved that Christian seemed to be all for taking the baby.
“First things first, we need to call an emergency family meeting to see what kind of baby stuff we can borrow,” Christian said, taking charge as he pulled out his phone and started calling everyone.
Shea felt like his feet were stuck to the floor, he couldn’t move. He was in a daze while he distantly heard Christian talking to his parents, then Henry, Sebastian, and Quinn. When he was finished, Christian stopped in front of him, cupped Shea’s face in both hands and raised it to look into his eyes.
“Hey, we’re gonna be fine. We can do this, and if you think about it, it’s much easier than trying to adopt a baby,” Christian said softly.
“But I didn’t think I’d be a father at 28,” Shea whispered.
“Neither did I, but sometimes shit doesn’t go the way we expect,” Christian said and kissed Shea softly on the lips. “Everyone should be here in about twenty minutes, and they are curious as hell as to why we need baby stuff.”
Christian stood next to Shea in front of his stunned family who were all crammed into his living room. Shea had just told them what was going on, and they were all obviously in shock. Henry and Claire brought over a bassinette for them to use, along with a swing and all of Adalyn’s clothes from her first few months. Sebastian and Raelynn brought an extra infant car seat that they had, and also a diaper bag and bottles.
“So let me get this straight. You slept with some chick, didn’t know you knocked her up, now she’s dead and you’re left with the baby?” Sebastian said, squeezing the bridge of his nose.
“Basically.” Shea sighed.
“And the baby is going to live here, with you and Christian?” Anne asked, frowning.
“Yes,” Christian answered.
“How do you know the baby is even yours?” Henry chimed in.
“I don’t. We’re going to do a paternity test, but it takes about a week for the results to come back, and the hospital won’t keep her. So either I take her, or she goes into the foster care system,” Shea answered.
Anne gasped. “Oh, no! You can’t let that happen!”
Shea gave her a sad smile. “I know. That’s why Christian and I are going to take her.”
“What do you mean by ‘Christian and I’? She’s your kid, not Christian’s,” Sebastian asked suspiciously.
Christian glanced over at Shea to see that he had closed his eyes. When he opened them, he looked at Christian apologetically. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”
“It’s alright, Shea,” Christian assured him, placing a hand on his back.
“What’s alright?” Claire asked in confusion.
Christian glanced at Quinn, who gave him a subtle nod. Christian cleared his throat.
“Shea and I are going to raise the baby as a couple. We’ve been together for six months now,” Christian said with as much confidence as he could muster.
The silence afterward was deafening. Everyone seemed to stare blankly at them. Shea shifted nervously next to him.
“Together how, son?” his father asked uncertainly.
“Dad, I’m gay. Shea’s my boyfriend,” Christian said.
Christian watched as Claire and Raelynn’s mouths dropped open in shock. Quinn and Margot just smiled warmly. Quinn gave him a wink, his smile turning proud, blowing Christian’s mind. Sebastian jumped to his feet, a huge grin on his face.
“I knew it! I fucking knew it!” Sebastian chirped, pointing at Christian.
“Sebastian! Language,” Raelynn scolded, motioning to the kids playing with Jenga blocks on the floor. It was the only thing Christian had for them to play with.
Sebastian winced. “Sorry.”
“Gay? Really?” his mother asked thoughtfully and a bit curiously.
“Yes, really.” Christian nodded.
“How long have you known?” Henry asked, getting to his feet. Christian couldn’t tell what he was thinking, his face was oddly neutral.
“Since I was eighteen.” Christian grimaced.
“You dick! You’ve known for that long and never told us?” Sebastian snapped, advancing toward Christian quickly.
“I didn’t want you to hate me.” Christian breathed and braced himself for Sebastian’s attack.
“Hate you?” Anne gasped. “Oh, honey! No! We could never hate you!”
Sebastian stopped in front of Christian and Shea. He put his hands on his hips and looked back and forth between the two of them.
“I could have sworn you were straight, dude,” he said to Shea.
Shea shrugged. “I thought I was, too, but I’m not.”
“Bi, then?”
Shea nodded. “Yes.”
Sebastian nodded and suddenly pulled them both into a hug. Christian was so shocked that he just stood there stiffly in Sebastian’s arms. Sebastian then kissed each of them on the temple.
“You two make a cute couple,” Sebastian murmured before letting them go with a ridiculously wide grin on his face, looking like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland.
Christian couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that came out. Shea chuckled, too. Henry was next to come over to them, grabbed Christian’s face, and kissed his forehead before hugging him tight.
“I’m sorry that you felt like you couldn’t tell us sooner,” he murmured softly.
Christian squeezed his eyes shut since they started burning from the tears that threatened to fall. He clung tightly to his oldest brother, never expecting Henry to apologize to him when he finally came out. Shea had been so right all of these years about how his family would react. How could he have been so blind? He put himself through ten years of hell, trying to hide who he really was from his family, and Shea had been telling him the whole time that they would not care, that they would love him anyway.
After getting hugs and kisses and assuring words from the rest of th
e family, Christian turned to look at Shea. Shea raised an eyebrow at him as if to say, “I told you so.” Christian smiled and grabbed the back of Shea’s neck, pulling him in for a quick kiss that had the women ‘awww-ing’ and Sebastian gagging loudly.
“Nooo! Don’t do that shit in front of me!” he whined.
Everyone laughed while Raelynn slapped him upside the head for cursing in front of the kids again.
“Alright, back to the matter at hand. What to do about this baby,” Anne said after the laughter died down. “Are you going to go get her tomorrow? Do you want me to come with you two?”
Christian was still in awe of his family and how well they took the news that he was gay, that he wasn’t really listening to his mother. It went better than he ever could have imagined. Not only did they not care, but they also already changed the subject.
“I think I just want it to be Christian and me, if you don’t mind, Anne. But you can definitely be here for when we get back,” Shea said softly.
Anne nodded and gave him a gentle smile. “I understand, Shea.”
“What happens if you bring this baby home and then it turns out that she’s not yours? What are you going to do then? Give her back?” Raelynn asked.
Shea sighed heavily and scrubbed his hand over his short hair. “I don’t know, Rae, I just…everything is so convoluted right now that I really don’t have an answer to that.”
“We’re just going to have to take it one day at a time,” Christian murmured, putting his arm around Shea’s shoulders.
Shea nodded and leaned into him, apparently needing the comfort.
They all talked some more about the situation before everyone went home. Christian walked them all out while Shea cleaned up some cups left around. Christian walked with Quinn and Margot to their car.
“I told you that they would be fine with it,” Quinn said.
“Yes, you did,” Christian agreed.
“Do you feel better now that we all know?” Margot asked.
“Ugh! You have no idea!”
Margot and Quinn chuckled.
“How are you two doing? Feel any different now that you’ve been married for two weeks?” Christian smirked.
